2023 uni applications for those pursuing art and creative routes

[Duchessofmuchness]

The other thread discussing Uni applications for RG and academic routes isn't so relevant for DS. He's considering Art Foundation year or direct entry to uni for fashion design.

Anyone care to join a thread on similar creative paths. (Not just fashion!)

He's looking at art foundation at Kingston, Central St Martin's, UCA,

For Fashion BA looking at Central St Martins, London College of Fashion, Manchester Met, Nottingham Trent, Liverpool John Moores, Leeds Beckett.

Most seem to accept without art foundation but he would need one to Central St Martin's so if he wants to try for that will need foundation.

Lots of open days coming up and hopefully school will give him some more advice next week. No start on his PS yet!!

I remember @PhotoDad warning everyone how quick portfolios are requested. My daughter is applying for foundation so a bit different- I know Kingston has said they do not review any applications until after the deadline, so no rolling admissions. But she definitely needs the Christmas break to finish hers and I imagine not an inconsiderable amount of time to format it in the way each place wants it! It's not like the old days where it was all in a big black folder - one wants X amount of this and that in pdf form, another has loser requirements but their own portfolio platform...
This plus mocks in January and it's hardly a break at all!
By the way even if someone gets an unconditional or low offer, I'd still encourage working to get best results as possible. If art/creative career doesn't pan out or they simply decide to switch down the line having good grades makes it much easier. I know one lad who really took them at their word and hardly did any work after his unconditional offer, and just scraped through his A levels. Fast forward a year and he changed his mind about design but found it hard to get on a decent program for a more academic degree.

@stardustliz my DD applied to NTU and got an extension in the portfolio due to her mocks clashing. I think she got an extension from all the places she applied to - they were very accommodating and flexible.

NTU open day next week if anyone is interested/going? We're going (again) as DD wants to change course. The benefit of foundation for her has been the exposure to other pathways than textiles and she has fallen for 3D design! Now instead of a sewing machine whirring away we have drills and saws and hammers 😬

my daughters college set a deadline of tomorrow to submit her UCAS application so they can review it.

illustration BA portsmouth
illustration BA UWE bristol
illustration BA Norwich university Arts
Animation & illustration BA Kingston
Animation & Illustration BA Worcester
3 of these we haven’t had the chance to visit 🙄 she’s happy though so that’s the main thing

Good luck to her! I know you visited UCA Farnham but she's decided against it? Any particular reason or just liked the other ones better?

Good luck to everyone finalising portfolios!

DD is still thoroughly enjoying ARU. She has weekly life classes where they are concentrating on working very quickly. This is just what she needed as she tends to be a bit of a perfectionist, which is a luxury freelancers can't afford. Her artist skills and her ability to work at speed have both developed almost beyond recognition and she's only one term in. Art school is so different from other academic courses!

@PhotoDad I wish we had a "like" button. It's really heartening to hear how your DD is blossoming on the right course & in the right environment for her after the horribleness of her last year in school. My DD is similar but we managed to move her for 6th form so things started to get better. I love it when she talks about her foundation course and just glows with enthusiasm for what she's doing. (I DON'T like the mess she leaves behind with all her building projects - but I know now to keep 🤐 and not complain)

@mumma24 did you go and visit Worcester? May I ask what’s the attraction?

@Localher0 It's reassuring that things often do turn out OK, after the tricky patches, right?

@mondaytosunday no reason, she just decided to choose a course that had joint animation/illustration instead.

@ArtGarfield no we haven’t visited Worcester. She just picked it as liked the idea of a joint Animation and illustration degree. 🙄

We went to the UAL Camberwell foundation open day today. Interesting that the talk was by the student recruitment/marketing person, whereas at other unis we've had head of the actual foundation department. She said they have a class of 550, but later said there were 50% international students, so I asked did that mean they reserved 50% specifically for international (fee paying) students and she admitted they did - so out of the horse's mouth @ArtGarfield! She reiterated that there was a a guarantee degree place for those who pass foundation.
It was also interesting that she said their most popular areas were graphic design, fine art and illustration. Theatre design the least as it's quite niche (remember UAL Camberwell does not do fashion, that would be at CSM). Have to say their facilities were not inspiring - the animation studio was about the size of a box room with one stop motion camera and I didn't see a Mac anywhere, though I believe they said they had...two. But still, they are the Ofqual approved accredited body and it remains, as the options are limited, a contender.
She did say that you had ten days to get your portfolio in once you submit an application!
My daughter has now done her music exam, submitted her EPQ essay, done her EPQ presentation and published her latest magazine - very happy to see the back of November! It's all about the portfolio now once she catches up on some sleep (though other A levels cannot be ignored)!

This is another "horses for courses" thing, but the sheer size of the London foundation courses could be very good or very bad. Lots of fellow students, team spirit, friendships; but limited contact time with tutors. One of DD's art teachers advised her against London art schools in general (he had been and it felt like a factory)... but another of the art staff advised against small departments because of the constant scrutiny and pressure!!! Which goes to show something.

Anyway, DD's happy, and one term into her ARU illustration course she can crank pieces like this out in 8 minutes in the "speed" training in life class. This is on a different plane to what she had in her portfolio, and what she did for her final A level in Fine Art. Which just goes to show that the right art school is completely worth it despite all the struggle to get there!

Fabulous @PhotoDad!
The in class time is 10.30-4.30 three days a week, with an assigned tutor. The 'off' days they are still expected to be either going to galleries or working on their subject. I think in the third phase of doing individual projects you are more or less on your own. But the studios are open every day til 10pm bar Wednesday, which is in line with Kingston, though not Ravensbourne (day and a half, not allowed to use equipment on off days).
Your daughter's improvement is also another argument for foundation. I know she's on a degree course, but the vast improvement teenagers (or adults) can make in a few months of sustained study can be dramatic, resulting in a better portfolio, especially if their college or school were indifferent to art.
Another benefit of attending open days in person is speaking to current students. We had an informative chat with a graphic design student who had done her Foundation there, who initially thought she was going to do illustration but had her head turned - she'd never had exposure to graphic design before. She was an excellent ambassador for the foundation program.

Yes, absolutely, it's really hard to imagine just how much difference it makes to be doing art all day, every day. For reference, DD's "contact hours" are one full day and two half-days a week, but they are given a lot of homework, and unlimited access to the studio (where they each have their own space, something to look out for when researching places).

Hope that the portfolios/UCAS forms are coming together and look forward to updates!

Thanks so much. Very informative. Are there 550 places on the Camberwell Foundation and another similar amount on the CSM Foundation? That seems like a lot but I suppose it’s akin to a four form entry secondary school. When I think like that it seems tiny!

I think I’m more of a donkey than a horses mouth but it’s nice to know I’m right about some things. It doesn’t happen often.

Worcester-it’s not somewhere I think of for art but that’s probably because I’m old and for me Worcester is education and nursing. I know it’s expanded hugely though and I imagine there is quite a student vibe in a small city type way.

@ArtGarfield - it’s more like 225 places for U.K. students as half the course is made up of international students.

I went to Camberwell in the mid nineties for a degree in graphic design and it was the same then although more like 50 places for U.K. students and 50 for international - it made for a good cross pollination of ideas and cultures.

My daughter visited UCA Farnham with her school and said she felt it was too similar to her 6th from college and she just didn’t find the place very inspiring or exciting.

@ArtGarfield it's 550 in total for Camberwell, with one third of applicants getting offers. She said CSM was different (she didn't mention numbers) as the fashion course was extremely popular, so I imagine more applicants and lower acceptance rate. Camberwell Foundation has its own dedicated building, and they are not allowed to use facilities in the main building other than the library and café. In Kingston they are welcome to use all the facilities.
@PerkyBlinder that's interesting. A friend (now 50) did her foundation at UCA Farnham and loved it. It's on our list as rated well but my daughter will only be looking at it for degree course. We will visit at some point. Mind you another friend's daughter who did her foundation at CSM last year felt it was like her GCSE course! She decided against fashion altogether and is now study psychology (why it's still important to get the best A level grades as possible just in case).

I believe the acceptance rate at Kingston is about 17% (for Foundation) as I'm sure they said they had 1000 applicants for 170 places. But I may be getting my stats confused!

@mondaytosunday that sounds about right for Kingston. Although I think about half are international too. Kingston pastoral support is also amazing as it's a small cohort. I did ask about the portfolio pictures and DD admitted she went a bit off piste and didn't stick to the exact requirements. So I don't really know what she sent in and I'm not recommending that approach as I'd have had a keniption if I'd known at the time.

Thanks @Localher0. She's probably going to put her cover illustrations and magazine related work and some of the stuff they did at the Foundation Prep course after a bit of refinement.
300 words for personal statement though - tight!

Help!! Any recommendations for Furniture/product design courses? We're now on a different path from textiles and DD has been advised by Kingston to look at more places than NTU (TLDR: where she has a deferred place for textile design). As usual we're leaving it very late and if she has to do a new UCAS application a few places will be blind! She absolutely hates Loughborough so although I know the design school there is good she won't consider it!
@mondaytosunday I'll try to find out what DD's statement looked like.....

UWE? Campus for first year and Bristol is a great student city.

Thanks - DS is at Bristol and absolutely loves the city.